About 600 students took to Sydney’s streets on Wednesday afternoon to protest the Abbott government’s proposed changes to higher education.

But the protesters also took aim at Treasurer Joe Hockey’s comment last week that ‘poor people don’t drive’, saying it further galvanised their opposition to a government that was contemptuous of students and the less well-off.

“In the past week we’ve seen that the Liberals don’t really have any sense of what it’s like to be poor, to be disadvantaged,” said Tom Harman, a second-year international studies student at Macquarie University. “They don’t care at all.”

Student Tom Harman with an effigy of Prime Minister Tony Abbott at a rally against proposed changes to higher education, Photo: Michael Koziol

Students were chiefly concerned with the government’s proposal to allow universities to set their own fees, a move they said could lead to some degrees costing $100,000. The vice-chancellors of some major institutions, including Sydney University's Michael Spence, have advocated the change but said their fees would only rise moderately.

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Cries of "no more budget" and "burn this budget" were also heard in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, where similar rallies took place as part of a nationwide protest.

After assembling at the University of Technology and Sydney University, students marched up Broadway and George Street before staging a brief sit-in at the corner of Bathurst Street. There, they attempted to burn an effigy of Mr Pyne. When that failed, a male student ripped the cardboard cut-out to shreds.

Outside Town Hall, the students were addressed by Greens senator Lee Rhiannon, who said the proposed higher education reforms were not up for negotiation.

“It's not just about returning to where we were before the Abbott government came in. It's about getting [even] more funding,” she said.

“You'll hear Christopher Pyne talk about opportunity. But what's he talking about? Opportunity for his mates.”

Rally organiser Chloe Rafferty, the NSW education officer for the National Union of Students, accused the government of pursuing an American tertiary education model that would leave future generations of students saddled with crippling debt.

“The core thing we have to make sure we bury dead in the ground is deregulation,” she said.

“It is fundamentally about creating a US-style system – a system built on inequitable access to education.”

Mr Harman said he was concerned his younger siblings would not be able to afford to attend university.

“This is going to be like another mortgage for them,” he said.

“That’s already a debt that you have to carry around for most of your life. This on top of it is going to be crippling.”

Christopher Gall, president of the UTS Students' Association, said the purpose of the national day of action was to send a message to the government and the crossbenchers ahead of the Senate reconvening on August 26.

"Today is yet another gasp of anger from the student body about the horrific reforms that the Abbott government is proposing," he said. "Students are really scared for their future and upset that this is happening."